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Philipp Jakob Straub 57 CHRISTINA PICHLER PHILIPP JAKOB STRAUB Philipp Jakob Straub (1706–74) received his artistic training from his father Johann Georg Straub (1674– 1755) in his workshop in Wiesensteig. He left in 1721 to follow his elder brother Johann Baptist (1704–84) to Mu- nich, where he worked as a journeyman in the sculp- tor’s workshop of Gabriel Luidl (1688–1741). Johann Straub, carpenter and uncle of the two brothers, also worked there on the furnishing of Castle Schleißheim in 1725.1 Documented sources prove that Philipp Jakob Straub is mentioned in a list of wage demands for the period November 25, 1726 to February 15, 1727.2 There- fore, it can be assumed that he was also involved in the works in Schleißheim and the city residence. After first training and being influenced by Bavarian sculptors, he moved to the imperial capital and royal residence in Vienna in 1727 where he verifiably attended the Acad- emy.3 It is probable that he worked there as a journey- man in the workshop of Prince Eugene of Savoy’s court sculptor Johann Christoph Mader (1697–1761), together with his brother Johann Baptist, who received the com- mission for the sculptural decoration of the Viennese Schwarzspanierkirche. Presumably, Philipp Jakob was also partly entrusted with these works.4 Because of this, 1 Straub’s early work was influenced by the so-called Kai- serstil. In 1733, after the death of the leading sculptor Weizberg, St John of Nepomuk, 1734 (NW, 2018) in Graz Johann Jakob Schoy (1686–1733), Mader recom- Weizberg, Hl. Johannes Nepomuk, 1734 (NW, 2018) mended Philipp Jakob as the most suitable candidate for the marriage to widowed Anna Katharina Schoy, low.6 Three years later in 1737 he made a sandstone and thus for the acquisition of Schoy’s workshop.5 sculpture of St John of Nepomuk in Weizberg (see figs. His first large commission in Styria included sev- 1 and 2).7 The depiction of the saint is as expressive as eral works for the Cathedral in Graz. In 1734 he created it is sensitive. Another sculpture of St John of Nepomuk the carved court oratory, which was decorated with can be found at the Calvary of Graz, where the fall from atlases and imperial insignia. More orders would fol- the bridge into the Vltava river is shown – a very dra- matic illustration. Although the two sculptural groups differ in their figurative execution, they both equally manifest their formal affinities with Schoy’s sandstone 1 Volk 1984a, 24 ff. groups of St John of Nepomuk for the central cemetery 2 Volk 1980, 14. 3 Steiner 1974, 22. 4 Steiner 1974. 6 Kohlbach 1956, 33, 122, 205. 5 Kohlbach 1956, 204. 7 Andorfer 1938, 167. 58 ESSAYS 2 Weizberg, St John of Nepomuk, 1734, detail with signature Weizberg, Hl. Johannes Nepomuk, 1734, Detail mit Signatur (NW, 2018) (NW, 2018) of Graz (1726)8 and Tobelbad, now in Vienna (1724).9 Around 1742–3, Philipp Jakob Straub created the What followed were further carvings for the Cathedral carved sculptures for the altars of Narcissus and Se- of Graz (1736 – ornamental decorations and frames).10 bastian for the monastery church Rein.13 These were The first, more extensive commission Philipp Jakob followed by the sculptures for the high altar of the Pil- received was the creation of sandstone sculptures for grimage church in St Erhard/Breitenau (1744–6), which the high altar and carved sculptures for two side altars are also excellent examples of Straub’s so-called mid- and the pulpit of Bürgerspital church in Graz (1734–8). dle mature style (see fig. 4). They seem to have been These works were originally commissioned with Schoy, “caught in motion” and appear as if they could free but Straub executed them masterly and for the first themselves from the torpor at once. The sculptures of time clearly showed his personal style,11 which is es- the high altar of “Italian” church (Welsche Kirche) in pecially pronounced in the sculpture of St Elizabeth Graz (1746) are even more impressive. The saints Flo- (see fig. 3), which is rightly counted among the sculp- rian, Sebastian, John the Baptist, and Donatus consti- tor’s best works. Between 1740 and 1745 Straub created tute a climax in Straub’s œuvre, and Sebastian can be the sandstone sculptures for the facade of the pilgrim- emphasized as an impressive highlight. He is standing age church Mariahilf in Graz. It was during this time, – tied to a tree stump – winding backwards, while his which is considered his more mature creative period,12 angled right arm follows the rotation (see fig. 5). The that the sculptor received many orders and enjoyed bent knees create the impression that the saint is sink- a growing reputation. The gable of Mariahilf depicts ing downwards, which causes a dynamic appearance. three archangels: on the far left and far right are Gabri- His unstable standing posture and the partial body ro- el and Raphael; above them is Michael and the Fall of tation can be regarded as characteristics of the medium the devil. This group is especially remarkable because mature style, just as a widely flared free leg. Another ex- it shows the significant influence of Viennese art, espe- ample that nicely exhibits these characteristic features cially of Lorenzo Mattielli (1687–1748), a sculptor from of Straub’s style is the altar of St John of Nepomuk (doc- Vicenza but working in Vienna at the time. His influ- umented from 1749–50).14 In the period between 1750 ence is apparent from the unmistakable relationship and 1752, Philipp Jakob Straub was briefly joined in between Straub’s fall of the devil and Mattielli’s on the Graz by his young nephew Franz Xaver Messerschmidt porch of the Viennese church of St Michael (1724–5). (1736–83), and obtained the title of court sculptor. In 1752 he was also elected patron and chairman of the painters’ confraternity.15 From that time he created 8 Dehio Graz 1979, 241. 9 Kohlbach 1956, 182. 10 Schweigert 2017, 317. 13 Dehio Steiermark 1956, 221. 11 Schweigert 2017, 317. 14 Kohlbach 1956, 206. 12 Schweigert 2017, 318. 15 Schweigert 2017, 315. CHRISTINA PICHLER: PHILIPP JAKOB STRAUB 59 3 4 Graz, Bürgerspital church, high altar, detail: St Elizabeth, St Erhard in der Breitenau, high altar, detail: St Leopold, 1734–8 (AL, 2018) 1744–6 (DMG, BM, 2007) Graz, Bürgerspitalskirche, Hochaltar, Detail: Hl. Elisabeth, St. Erhard in der Breitenau, Hochaltar, Detail: Hl. Leopold, 1734/38 (AL, 2018) 1744–1746 (DMG, BM, 2007) the sculptures for the organ of the Ursuline church even their hair and the drapery of clothes support the in Varaždin (Croatia),16 which he repeated around ten dynamic character of the sculptures. The carved and years later (1765) in a similar style for the organ of the gilded angels of the high altar of the pilgrimage church parish church in Birkfeld (see fig. 6).17 The expressive Mariahilf in Graz (around 1769) reflect this type,19 as period in the artist’s œuvre climaxed in the sculptures do the white-coloured angels of the high altar of the for the parish church of Ehrenhausen (1752–5). Straub parish church of Castle Hollenegg (around 1755–60, created the sculptures for the high altar, two side al- see fig. 7).20 This highly polished white colouring is a tars, and the pulpit.18 The high altar’s monumental an- feature of several of Straub’s works. This is probably gels are characterized by their strong expressivity, and due to the tastes of that time (porcelain emerged in eighteenth-century Europe, as did several porcelain manufactures), but also represented a possibility for 16 Šaban 1978, 140. 17 Krenn 1981, 97. 19 18 Andorfer 1938, 168. The attribution was made by several Dehio Graz 1979, 160. researchers due to stylistic criteria. 20 Schweigert 2017, 320. 60 ESSAYS 5 6 Graz, Welsch church, high altar, detail: St Sebastian, 1746 Birkfeld, parish church St Peter and Paul, organ, detail: (CP, 2018) angel, 1765 (DMG, CP, 2015) Graz, Welsche Kirche, Hochaltar, Detail: Hl. Sebastian, 1746 Birkfeld, Pfarrkirche Hl. Petrus und Paulus, Orgel, Detail: (CP, 2018) Engel, 1765 (DMG, CP, 2015) him to prove his sculpting skills – a polished white col- church of St Andrew in Graz (around 1765–70).22 The ouring reveals the smallest tarnish. carvings of these sculptures appear more static than What followed was one of the few documented their expressive predecessors, which can be traced works of the artist – the high altar of the Croatian pil- back to the influence of Georg Raffael Donner (1693– grimage church in Trški Vrh near Krapina (1759).21 The 1741) and Veit Königer (1729–92). Königer’s work espe- period from around 1760 until his death in 1774 is con- cially is characterized by a classicizing figurative style, sidered as Philipp Jakob Straub’s late style, which is which had an important impact on Straub’s late style.23 characterized by a slow decline of artistic verve. In this period, he created carved sculptures as well as stone works. As for the first, these include the two Rosary al- 22 Schweigert 2017, 320; Kohlbach 1956, 206. tars of Birkfeld (documented, from 1768) and the parish 23 Philipp Jakob Straub was the godfather of Veit Königer’s son, Josef Philipp, which implies an amicable relationship. See Stadtpfarre Graz, Taufbuch XVI, 98: “1756 28. Septem- ber, Josephus Philippus. Vitus Kiniger ein Bilthauer Meister 21 Baričević 1975, 22; Baričević 1992–3, 196. et Elisabeth vxor. Philipp Jacob Straub Bilthauer Meister.” CHRISTINA PICHLER: PHILIPP JAKOB STRAUB 61 7 8 Hollenegg, parish church St Ägydius, high altar, detail: Weizberg, Basilica of the Sorrowful Virgin Mother, facade, white-coloured angel, 1755–60 (DMG, CP, 2015) detail: Ascension of Mary, 1774 (NW, 2018) Hollenegg, Pfarrkirche Hl.
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